rlm@0: Hello! ^-^ This story is based on a premise my friend gave me to write. So rlm@0: it has nothing to do with my normal continuity. ^^;; Anyway, all of my rlm@0: stories (Sailormoon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Pretty Sammy, and others) can be rlm@0: found at Moonlit Nights ( http://fly.to/moonlit_nights ). ^-^ I love to hear rlm@0: what you think about my stories, so if you have the chance, please e-mail rlm@0: me. ^-^ Thanks! *hugs* rlm@0: rlm@0: This was the premise for the story: rlm@0: rlm@0: It's a dismal, rainy day. Some situation (possibly a dispute with a rlm@0: parental figure, etc.) has locked one member of a pair (you get to decide rlm@0: ^_- ) into their own home without access to any means of communicating with rlm@0: the other. The other, of course, either doesn't know this or DOES know this rlm@0: but can't do anything. They both take the time apart to reminisce. rlm@0: Write that, the reason behind it, and resolve the situation ^_^ rlm@0: rlm@0: And here's what came out of it: rlm@0: rlm@0: I Sure Am Glad It's Raining rlm@0: by Amazoness Duo rlm@0: amazonessduo@hotmail.com rlm@0: rlm@0: The rain pelted against the window in sheets, nearly drowning out the sobs rlm@0: coming from within the young girls room. Generally a cheerful place, it now rlm@0: was more like a dungeon. A plush prison, but a prison nonetheless. Cute rlm@0: little stuffed rabbits stood sentry over the room's sole occupant. It rlm@0: wasn't fair. Why did life have to hurt so much? Why was everyone here always rlm@0: so cruel? These people weren't her family. They didn't care about what rlm@0: happened to her. Even Usagi, her real mother, had agreed with her 'aunt' and rlm@0: 'uncle'. No, she wasn't her mother yet. She was just some immature girl that rlm@0: she was forced to live with. While she was practically exiled from her home rlm@0: so she could learn to become the next Sailormoon from -her-. rlm@0: The shawl she had been given only the night before was little consolation. rlm@0: Rather, it reminded her even more of the girl she was currently barred from rlm@0: seeing. Clutching it tightly, the pink haired girl pulled it close. The rlm@0: thunder sent shivers up and down her spine. The storm was only making things rlm@0: worse, playing with her already frazzled nerves. A pang of sadness shot rlm@0: through her as she held the shawl closer. It still carried her scent. rlm@0: Closing her eyes, she could see her just as clearly as if she was standing rlm@0: there in front of her. Beautiful ivory skin, the very faintest of smiles, rlm@0: deep violet eyes. More bitter tears spilt down her cheeks as the rain rlm@0: continued to pick up outside. rlm@0: Through her blurry vision, she could see where her phone used to be. They'd rlm@0: taken that, too. Apparently she'd been so 'bad' that she was supposed to rlm@0: think about what she'd done until she agreed with them about how awful she rlm@0: was while staying all alone. With no contact. Especially from her. rlm@0: What was wrong with a kiss? A simple gesture, it could show your love rlm@0: better than any words could ever express. Something only lovers could share, rlm@0: their own little escape from the world, if only for a few all too brief rlm@0: seconds. So what was so inherently evil about her giving a goodbye kiss to rlm@0: the one person she loved so dearly? Apparently, everything. Ikuko had seen rlm@0: it all from the window. As soon as she'd entered, they had sprung upon her rlm@0: like she was a criminal. Ikuko had wanted to know where she had gone wrong. rlm@0: Kenji had just looked disgusted the whole time, anger lashing out at her rlm@0: whenever she would argue her point. Even her mother, the one person who rlm@0: should by all rights care for her when no one else did, agreed with them. rlm@0: She thought she was getting too many ideas from Haruka and Michiru, that rlm@0: maybe Hotaru had gotten twisted around while being raised by them and was rlm@0: now corrupting her. That she needed to figure out what being friends meant rlm@0: and what being lovers meant. She had told her to wait until she was older rlm@0: and find a nice boy to get with and that this would never last. That had rlm@0: finally snapped something inside of her. How dare she tell her that they rlm@0: would never last! How dare she accuse Hotaru of being some delinquent! How rlm@0: could she look her own daughter in the face, through all of the tears, and rlm@0: still tear her heart out? rlm@0: For the past day, everyone in the house was looking at her strangely for rlm@0: the few times she had been allowed out of her room. Ikuko wouldn't even look rlm@0: at her. Usagi kept trying to offer sympathy, even saying they could talk rlm@0: about it if she wanted. Talk about what? But still... She was her mother. rlm@0: That had been a huge mistake. She was wrong. Usagi was certain about that rlm@0: from the outset. It wasn't so they could talk about it, merely so Usagi rlm@0: could explain the way things were supposed to be. The way she was supposed rlm@0: to be. As if she were broken... She'd stormed out of the room, tears rlm@0: brimming in her crimson eyes shortly thereafter. rlm@0: Could she even go home anymore? Was this what was awaiting her back in rlm@0: Crystal Tokyo? What future was awaiting her without Hotaru? What good was a rlm@0: kingdom without the one you love by your side? Her mother there had even rlm@0: more power over her life than these people here. They wouldn't let her see rlm@0: Hotaru because she had kissed her and that was obviously bad. In the future, rlm@0: she could easily be forced to marry someone else. She didn't even know where rlm@0: Hotaru was in the future. No wonder her mother wouldn't tell her. She would rlm@0: only be a shell without her. Living an empty life as a figurehead for the rlm@0: kingdom, but serving her purpose. That wasn't a future at all. rlm@0: Why was she so alone? The people she had thought cared about her wouldn't rlm@0: even listen to her now, determining that she wasn't fit to decide who she rlm@0: loved. And the only person she knew she could trust with all of this was rlm@0: beyond her reach. It wasn't fair. It wasn't.. fair... rlm@0: A yawn escaped her lips as she shifted on the bed. Her head ached horribly rlm@0: from all of her crying. The thunder still had her shaking now and again. Her rlm@0: heart felt icy cold inside. But not beating rapidly the way it had been rlm@0: moments before. An almost slow, soothing beat. She yawned again, her grip rlm@0: starting to loosen on the shawl. So tired... Maybe she would just sleep a rlm@0: little. Maybe things would be better... Her thoughts unfinished, the pink rlm@0: haired girl's eyes slipped shut, the shawl slipping through her fingers and rlm@0: fluttering to the floor. rlm@0: rlm@0: "Sleep well, ChibiUsa-chan. I'll see you soon. I promise," Hotaru said, rlm@0: almost subconsciously as she looked up at the window. She was completely rlm@0: soaked by the rain, her weak body shuddering with chills. A scream came from rlm@0: ChibiUsa's room as Ikuko came in to a morbid discovery. "Sleep well, rlm@0: ChibiUsa-chan." Moments later, the dark haired girl collapsed in the rain. rlm@0: But no one would notice her. No one ever did. rlm@0: